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Hammonasset River

river in the United States of America

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionNov 11, 2025
Entity authorityQ5645814 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Hammonasset River is formed about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Durham, Connecticut along a gully on the north end of Bunker Hill at about a half mile northeast of the junction of Route 148 and Bunker Hill Road. The river travels for 21.0 miles (33.8 km) to Clinton Harbor on Long Island Sound just east of Hammonasset Beach State Park. A popular paddling route runs for about 10 miles (16 km) starting along Summer Hill Road about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south on Route 79 from North Madison, Connecticut. This is a scenic river run with mostly flat and quickwater, but with a few Class I-II whitewater areas.

The Hammonasset were a tribe of Algonquian Native Americans who had their "digging grounds" in this part of Connecticut, from the west bank of the Connecticut River to the Hammonasset River along the coast. The act of the Connecticut General Court, May 10, 1666, that established New London County mentioned as the county's western bounds "Homonoscet Plantation", which was settled by the English in 1663, now Killingworth. The name was also spelled "Homonoscitt" in some records.

Editorial summary

“Hammonasset River” enters the record as river in the United States of America. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Hammonasset, River and river can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA valuable geographic starting point for tracing changing names, boundaries, uses and administrative responsibility. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1666, 1663—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Hammonasset, River and river.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Hammonasset River” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Hammonasset, River and river provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 11, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q5645814. Authority coordinates are 41.278, -72.547. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1666 and 1663.

Critical limits

Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Hammonasset River”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Hammonasset River primary sources, Hammonasset River archive and Hammonasset research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Hammonasset River”?
  2. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
  3. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Hammonasset River” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.